Microsoft is on the path to building the first topological qubit, a type of quantum bit that will serve as the basis for a scalable, general purpose quantum computer, marking a profound breakthrough in quantum physics.

The Edge of AI

Fielding AI solutions in the open world requires systems to grapple with incompleteness and uncertainty. Eric Horvitz addresses several promising areas of research in open world AI, including enhancing robustness via leveraging algorithmic portfolios, learning from experiences in rich simulation environments, harnessing approaches to transfer learning, and learning and personalization from small training sets. In addition, Eric will cover mechanisms for engaging people to identify and address uncertainties, failures, and blind spots in AI systems.

Watch a demo a prototype application of assistive AI for cancer treatment. AI has the capability of identifying the tumor and nearby anatomical structures in 3D, performing a labor-intensive task called segment contouring with 90 percent accuracy, and doing so dozens of times faster than a human.

Microsoft researchers in artificial intelligence are harnessing the explosion of digital data and computational power with advanced algorithms, enabling collaborative and natural interactions between people and machines that extend the human ability to sense, learn and understand.

Security & Privacy

A cloud-based tool, formerly known as Project Springfield, that developers can use to look for bugs and other security vulnerabilities in the software they are preparing to release or use, saving companies the heartache of having to patch a bug, deal with crashes or respond to an attack after it has been released.

At any point in time on any day of the week, Microsoft’s cloud computing operations are under attack: The company detects a whopping 1.5 million attempts a day to compromise its systems. But Microsoft isn’t just fending off those attacks. It’s also learning from them.

Advances in AI & Machine Learning

The ability to differentiate things like trees, curbs, and glass doors come easily to humans, but it's still difficult for AI-based systems. Microsoft researchers are aiming to change that by working on a new set of tools, now available on GitHub, that other researchers and developers can use to train and test robots, drones and other gadgets for operating autonomously and safely in the real world.

How can doctors keep up with the explosion of medical research? The Azure for Research program provided an Azure grant to University College London to quickly develop and deploy AI solutions in the cloud.